A juror in the 2009 trial of Anthony Oddone issued a sworn statement to defense attorneys that she had voted to convict the college student and golf caddy of killing Andrew Reister in August 2008 only because she was afraid the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office would punish her son if her holdout resulted in a hung jury.

The statement of former juror Frances Oka, who had been the lone holdout for a not-guilty verdict after nine days of deliberations in the case, was a central part of an argument for a retrial made by an attorney for Mr. Oddone before a four-judge panel in the state Appellate Court on Friday morning. Ms. Oka’s son had been arrested over the weekend before the final day of deliberations and she told the defense attorney following the trial that she had ultimately changed her not guilty vote because she feared he would be prosecuted more aggressively if the Oddone jury did not produce a conviction.

The attorney, Marc Wolinsky, a well known corporate lawyer, also told the judges that several respected medical examiners had issued affidavits after the trial that testimony given in court by Suffolk County Medical Examiner James Wilson went against accepted medical science and would have misled the jury.

“He didn’t know what he was talking about,” Mr. Wolinsky told the judges. “I can’t overstate how prejudicial that was.”

Dr. Wilson had testified that various injuries sustained by Mr. Reister, an off-duty corrections officer and father of two from Hampton Bays working as a bouncer at the Southampton Publick House when he was killed during a struggle with Mr. Oddone, proved that he had been choked for two to three minutes. But Mr. Wolinsky said that sworn statements by other medical examiners gathered after Mr. Oddone’s December 2009 conviction claim that the choking injuries, burst blood vessels in the eyes and face, and Mr. Reister’s death could have happened in just 10 to 15 seconds.

The amount of time it took for Mr. Reister to sustain the injuries that ultimately led to his death was key to Mr. Wolinsky’s claim that Mr. Oddone should get a new trial, or at the very least, a reduction in his 22-year sentence. The attorney argued that Mr. Oddone, 26 at the time, was defending himself against the much larger Mr. Reister after the bouncer had shoved him off a tabletop when he refused to get down and that maintaining the choke hold that stopped Mr. Reister’s heart was reasonable for a short period of time.

“If someone shoots a person seven times and the first shot was justified but the next six weren’t, you have to prove that it was the six shots that killed,” Mr. Wolinsky told the judges.

If Mr. Reister sustained the fatal injuries after just a matter of seconds, Mr. Oddone’s continuing to choke him should not have mattered when the jury was considering whether he was using excessive force, the attorney argued.

“Put yourself in the position of someone who just got attacked by someone who is 6’4” and 280 pounds. [One witness] testified that he had to hit him in the head to ‘wake him up’—that’s Tony’s mental state: he’s frozen in here,” Mr. Wolinsky said, pointing to his head. “There can be no dispute that Tony is justified to hold him for more than 10 to 15 seconds.”

The prosecution’s case at trial rested largely on the amount of time Mr. Oddone held Mr. Reister in the choke hold, which was between two and three minutes according to several witnesses. Mr. Wolinsky argued that the prosecution used Dr. Wilson’s flawed testimony to lend weight to the testimony of otherwise unreliable witnesses and discredit testimony by others who said the struggle had lasted a much shorter time.

Assistant District Attorney Anne Oh, who had been co-counsel for the prosecution during Mr. Oddone’s trial, argued to the judges that Mr. Oddone had in fact been the aggressor in the fight and was not acting in self defense. After Mr. Reister passed out and collapsed to the ground, breaking his nose, Mr. Oddone had shifted his body to keep choking him with all his strength, she said, echoing testimony given by witnesses at trial.

“This wasn’t a case of accidental death,” she said on Friday, “He wasn’t frozen, your honor, he was relentless.”

Ms. Oh said that the claim of bias by Ms. Oka was simply a case of juror’s remorse and pointed to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that said a new trial was not made necessary by a “compromised” juror.

Mr. Wolinsky also appealed to the judges that the sentence of 22 years for a person who did not have a violent criminal past was unreasonable and was the result of pressure on Justice C. Randall Hinrichs by law enforcement agencies and Mr. Reister’s former colleagues at the Suffolk County Jail in Riverhead, which is next to the courthouse where Mr. Oddone was tried.

Yes, I was present in the courtroom for the arguments. The defense has refused to share any information with the Press other than the attorney, Mr. Wolinsky, agreeing to speak with me very briefly outside the courtroom.

This whole thing makes me sick. The defense can twist the facts any way they want. Bottom line is this: Dead is Dead. Oddone attacked a man from behind and killed him. Reister was WALKING AWAY, defenseless and this was not a bar fight. Judge Heinrichs said so himself at sentencing. It doesnt change the fact that Oddone DOES have a violent history. Oddone DID kill a man with his bare hands. A man is dead and it's because of the hands of Anthony Oddone. The rest doesn't matter.

The court is not likely to overturn the conviction becuase of a juror having a change of heart. The appeals process will look at the technical aspect of the case - a juror change of heart after the fact has never been the basis for an overturned conviction. If that were possible no one would ever be found guilty.What's next "I voted to acquit because I felt guilty that I did not spend enough time reading to my own children"

Oh and whats the next thing FRANCES OKA is gonna say, MICKEY MOUSE made my son become a drug addict and dealer too. Who brought the firearms raid to her house in October - Daffy Duck or was it really her husband? If she's got blood on her hands from the money that MR. WOLINSKY is giving her so they can get an appeal I'm sure she can rest assure that all eye's are on her now by making these ridiculous comments. I hope you can sleep at night causing pain to an already open wound thats trying desperately ...moreto heal. These "guys" (MR. WOLINSKY HIS MALE PARTNER) are really starting to stoop really low.

And this is all very true! This occured to her in October, and in the meanwhile she was busy getting juror after juror removed from this case. I wonder if she ever informed the judge of what was happening under her own roof. This woman is a disgrace and the county should bill her for for 3 months worth of wasted time.

Fact remains, Mr. Oddone CHOSE not only to assault Mr. Reister, he chose to hold him in a headlock for an extended period. Mr. Oddone chose to be disrespectful to a place of business, and it's patrons by dancing on a table. Mr. Oddone chose to serve his own interests, and not the interests of safety, or his fellow patrons, when asked to refrain from doing so MORE than once. This young man is clearly not only selfish, but violent, and has the "rap sheet" to prove ...moreit. A choke hold of the nature he used is normally NOT used for restraint. It is used to render an opponent unconscious, or worse yet, deceased. You don't use a potentially lethal martial arts hold on another man, and call it an "accident". This kid needs plenty of time, in his own private room to not only think about what he's done, but to dwell on it for at least two decades. And, for the sake of arguement, Andy most likely had at the very least two decades of his own left to live. Maybe someday Mr. Oddone will return to society older, less intemperate, and wiser when he's done serving his time.

Regardless of either person's behavior (rsport), Mr. Oddone had the choice to not be belligerent. He had the choice to NOT be disrespectful, and he HAD the choice to walk away. Most any establishment DOES NOT permit dancing on a table. It is not only unsafe, it can result in serious personal injury. It is not the DJ's job to stop it, it is security's job to do so. And frankly, we DON'T have a genuine "reasonably foreseeable" history of needing that type of "additional security" in the Publick House. When you're told you are being an a$$, usually 99.9% of the patrons comply. And, most of us just simply act better than that.

Mr. Oddone did not walk away, chose to use lethal force, and a good man is dead for it.

He is responsible for this man's death, as HE made the decision to assault, and place Mr. Reister in a potentially lethal chokehold. He chose to NOT follow the non-violent principle of martial arts.

All Mr. Oddone had to do was realize dancing on a table is wrong, as well as unsafe, disrespectful behavior, and walk away.

And while I agree wholeheartedly, this was in no way a headlock. It was a chokehold. A very clear chokehold that he repositioned after they fell and his arms were NEVER around his head but around his NECK. Just clarifying...

That lower- than - a - snake should remain in jail forever! For someone like Odone I am only sorry that tax dollars have to be spent feeding and housing him until he does pass on lto his reward.My feelings are for the family a young mother and two children without their anchor in this crazy world.